Hotels, tour operators and travel agencies are rushing to launch proprietary online tools and loyalty schemes to fend off future competition from autonomous bots that can arrange travel for users. A survey by Skyscanner found that 38 per cent of 22,000 respondents would use AI tools to research destinations, while 33 per cent would use them to plan holiday itineraries. Jean-François Guilmard, chief data and AI officer at Accor, says this shift is already happening, not futuristic.

Accor, which owns Sofitel, Mercure, Fairmont and Raffles, is investing in integrated apps that facilitate bookings and payments directly within large language models such as ChatGPT. The French hotel group is preparing for what Guilmard calls the 'agentic step' in travel planning. Meanwhile, Booking Holdings shares have dropped 15 per cent year-to-date, and Expedia has fallen 7 per cent, signaling investor concern about AI disruption.

Skyscanner chief executive Bryan Batista argues companies must meet customers where they are, enabling conversational search for AI-native users. The platform recently launched conversational search allowing queries like 'cheap but sunny hiking holiday from London for a week in November' to receive tailored recommendations. Skyscanner also built its Football Flight Finder in under a week using agentic coding tools.

Startups like Martin Perez's Book Yolo aim to reduce 'post-booking regret' by helping consumers filter thousands of reviews and data points efficiently. For established players, loyalty programs and trusted brand recognition will differentiate them from generic AI tools. The travel booking landscape is shifting toward direct integration with AI assistants, fundamentally changing how customers discover and reserve trips.